


An Unseen Force

by deadlikemoi



Category: Star Wars Sequel Trilogy
Genre: Enemies to Friends to Lovers, F/M, HEA Guaranteed, Jinkies!, Leia is missing, Or are Ben and Rey the Scooby gang minus the people who always get caught, Rey is Leia's PA, She hates Ben sight unseen, Sherlock and Watson maybe?, The Game Is Afoot, Threatening voicemails, We've got a mystery on our hands dear readers, so just velma and shaggy, where's scooby?
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-11-03
Updated: 2020-01-01
Packaged: 2021-01-20 23:14:10
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 8,860
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21289757
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/deadlikemoi/pseuds/deadlikemoi
Summary: Monday morning starts bright and early with zero missed calls from a certain phone number. She has corrected all the filing mistakes, sorted out all the emails and meeting requests, and there's nothing left to do while she stares unhappily at the ticking clock.The number is deeply etched in her memory now, ten digits that she can ramble off faster than the first twenty digits of the number pi, which pushes her fingers to move with some sort of muscle memory.No answer, no surprise, but her heart still palpates unnaturally. The robot voice has become a close confidant.“Hello, Ben Solo’s voicemail. You may remember me, Rey Niima, your mother’s assistant. The two people who you avoid like a newly discovered plague.” She sighs heavily. “Speaking of plagues, you might find one on your doorstep if you don't answer Leia’s calls or at least call her back. Do you have working fingers? Can you send your mother a text message at least? I’m available if you need instructions or help moving all your robot parts.”
Relationships: Rey/Ben Solo | Kylo Ren
Comments: 21
Kudos: 92
Collections: The Pink Ladies Love Exchange





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Daisyflo](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Daisyflo/gifts).

> For Marie ❤️ I've always appreciated your work so getting the chance to write for you is a little bit daunting, but I hope you enjoy!

“I'd really appreciate it if you'd take a few minutes out of your day to call your mother back. She raised you, for God’s sake!” And with that, Rey replaces the handset onto the base and simply stares at it, willing the phone to ring. 

She has worked for Leia for almost six months now, and she regards the woman as something very close to a maternal figure in her life. After aging out of the foster care system, bouncing from temporary home to temporary home, she didn't expect anything to come out of this job interview. 

Two hours after she’d run out of the room and terrified she'd have to choose between rent and food again, her phone rang with a job offer that brought her to tears. 

As a college dropout, money is always an issue. All her hopes and dreams rest on the ability to complete her degree, mostly through part-time online enrollment, but progress is progress. And Leia has assisted with that at every turn and continually pushes her when she thinks she has no more to give. 

So of course she feels animosity when she regards the son who continues to break her boss’s heart at every opportunity. 

Does she have an enemy aside from her loneliness? She does now. 

!

Monday morning starts bright and early with zero missed calls from a certain phone number. She has corrected all the filing mistakes, sorted out all the emails and meeting requests, and there's nothing left to do while she stares unhappily at the ticking clock. 

The number is deeply etched in her memory now, ten digits that she can ramble off faster than the first twenty digits of the number pi, which pushes her fingers to move with some sort of muscle memory. 

No answer, no surprise, but her heart still palpates unnaturally. The robot voice has become a close confidant.

“Hello, Ben Solo’s voicemail. You may remember me, Rey Niima, your mother’s assistant. The two people who you avoid like a newly discovered plague.” She sighs heavily. “Speaking of plagues, you might find one on your doorstep if you don't answer Leia’s calls or at least call her back. Do you have working fingers? Can you send your mother a text message at least? I’m available if you need instructions or help moving all your robot parts.” 

She ends the voicemail with a loud shriek before returning the handset back down on to the receiver. 

Will she have to soldier on through this eternal struggle with Ben Solo? There are bigger problems in the world. 

!

By Friday, Leia is rushing in and out with a smile on her face and her shoulders seemingly less weighed down by the millions of stressors she has in her life. 

“Ben sent me a text this morning,” Leia says this with a smile as they split a chocolate chip pumpkin muffin during their short one-on-one weekly meeting. 

Rey’s eyebrows shoot up toward her hairline. “Really? Is that good?” Work has taken a backseat to personal matters for the time being.

When she turns her iPhone to her assistant, Rey is conflicted with thoughts of surprise, excitement, and the low pits of uncertainty. 

“Hi mom ill try 2 call u later” 

That's it. One sentence for the woman who gave birth to him and put up with years of his shit. 

She might not be aware of all the details, but Rey can see the sorrow reflected in Leia’s eyes when she talks about her family. Ben is all she has left aside from her non-profit, and he can't deign his mother with his company. 

It's decided, she hates him. Her stomach tosses with acid and anger when she thinks of him. 

Ben Solo will rue the day he meets Rey Niima in the flesh, mark her words. And his tombstone. 

!

Rey gives him a week, seven days, including five business days, to keep his word and at least attempt to call his mother. But when she sees Leia after that time has passed, she knows it hasn't happened. 

“Hey, asshole,” she articulates to his voicemail box once again. “You lied to your mother and got her hopes up yet again. I’m the one here cleaning it all up, making sure that her disappointment doesn't dislodge her entire day. How useful are you? Don't you need laundry done or want a home cooked meal? Can't you make some excuse to stop by? She seems like she’d be fine with doing that for you. You're a monster, though, aren't you?” 

Her last thought is cut off when the woman in question emerges from her office with a large brown stain covering her beige blouse. 

Luckily for everyone, Rey has a number of backup tops, pants, and skirts stashed inside the closet right next to the entry door. Situations such as this happen a few times a month, at least. 

Rey is quickly up on her feet, rushing to lock the door and bar anyone from entering while she helps Leia get everything sorted out. 

The pink color in Leia’s cheeks broadcasts how she truly feels, “I was on the phone with that demonic man, Snoke, and I—I got too upset.” 

It's not in her job description to bury herself in her boss’s business, so she does her best to keep her mouth shut and help in any way she can unless she's directly asked for her thoughts.

“I’ll rush this down to the dry cleaners immediately. Oh, that cami will need to come off too. There has to be another—yes!” Rey closes her eyes and holds out both the black blouse and grey cami, allowing her boss to strip down and redress in moderate privacy. 

“All done.” 

Leia looks as crisply put together as ever. Maybe a few wisps of hair have fallen out of her braids, but otherwise no one would be able to tell that she’d become so flustered. 

“Would you like anything while I’m out? Lunch, or maybe another coffee?” The dry cleaner is about half a mile away, straight down the street once she leaves the office, and downtown is full of everything a person could want or need while they live in this metropolitan heaven. 

“Get yourself some lunch. I don't need anything other than some peace and quiet to recharge.” 

“You got it, boss,” Rey slips her small crossbody purse over her head and moves for the door with her arms full. “I have my phone if you need me.” 

The walk always clears her mind like nothing else can. Something about the breeze rustling through her hair and the sun beaming down on her gets her from 100 to 0 in no time flat. It's not meditation or yoga, not even close, but in the middle of the day, stacked between meetings and filing and angry clients, it keeps her blood pressure down and puts a smile on her face. 

There are no regrets when she thinks about everything she left behind to start a new life here. 

Her mind is so far away from her own being when she is grasped by a set of strong arms that pull her off to the right where a restaurant has an outdoor seating area. 

“Finn!” Rey is screeching, and she knows it, but she hasn't seen her best friend in nearly a month. Maybe longer, truth be told, but thinking about it makes her tear up almost instantly. 

“What—what are you doing here?” 

He is laughing at her, his face full of mirth. “I was just coming to see you. Where are you off to?”

“Dry cleaners,” she holds up the clothes balanced over her forearm, “and then lunch if you're buying.”

“Oh I’m buying, am I?”

“Big shots always buy when their broke college roommate is involved, duh.” 

!

Returning to work after lunch spent with her best friend, Rey is more than a little surprised to see the door locked after she's climbed up the steep stairwell. 

“Hello?” She knocks a few times before she starts digging into her bag in search of her keys. Leia is always here. Did something happen? 

Her heart rate starts to climb the longer she stands there, starting to throw things out and onto the floor as her keys continue to drift deeper and deeper into the nearly endless depths of leather. 

The keyring slips onto her finger, clicking and clanging as she pulls it out, and her breathing has turned erratic while her mind pours over every horrible possibility that awaits her inside. 

Maybe she's a pessimist, but after a hard life filled with very few good things, Rey is the one person only too familiar with the horrors life can throw at you. Once the door is open, the first thing she notices is the stillness of the office. The lights are off, the vent fan isn't on, and Leia’s door on the far side of the small office is closed. It is never closed except when she's dealing with an unsavory situation. 

She calls out again but receives the same response as she did before. “Hello? Leia, are you here?” 

As if someone is watching her every movement, the phone rings as she takes one step forward. 

Part of her intends to run to the closed door, to beat it down if necessary, and see what lies just beyond the threshold, but the logical part of her remembers that she works here, and it's her responsibility to answer the phone. 

The phone rings twice more before she makes up her mind and rushes to her desk, nearly stumbling over the top and then off the chair to catch the call before it goes to voicemail. 

“Leia Organa’s office, how may I direct your call?” 

All she hears at first is static and the sound of someone breathing on the other end. She’s heard about women receiving phone calls from perverts who only breathe loudly and never speak. 

“Is someone there? Hello?” She waits a few moments before her anger gets the best of her. “It's very rude to just sit there and breathe, you know. Are you one of those perverts who gets off on that sort of thing?”

“I’m not.” 

It is not what she expected, the response or the voice that belongs to the man on the other side. It's unnaturally deep, causing a shiver to run up her spine and instantly cool her down after the heat of concern had nearly set her ablaze. 

“What can I do for you then?” 

The voice sighs and doesn't answer immediately, pushing her almost to the edge of her seat. “May I speak with Leia, please?” 

Of course. Why else would someone be speaking to her if they aren't screaming right off the bat.

She tacks on her most insincere smile even though he will never see it or know it's there. “I’m sorry, she's not available at the moment. Can I take a message?” 

What she hears is a barrage of swear words barely louder than a whisper. He must have pulled the phone away from his face, but she hears it all anyway. “Umm, can you just tell her her son called?”

Rey is struck dumb, completely. “Her son?”

“Yes, Ben Solo.” 

Someone will be along to pick her jaw up off the floor, right? 

“Right! Yes, Ben. I will absolutely let Leia know you called.”

“Thanks. And Rey?” She is horrorstruck. When did she say her name? She is sure she didn't, but her mind has solidified like concrete and stopped working. 

Her voice is small when she simply says “yes.” 

“I've really enjoyed all the voicemails.” And then he's gone. 

He's gone, but so is Leia. Fear grips her heart as she creeps to her boss’s door only to find the room empty just like she expected.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> How has it been a month?! I meant to have this chapter up earlier, and I'm hoping to have this all wrapped up before the 19th. Fingers crossed!
> 
> This is not beta read so any errors are mine and mine alone.

Hours pass by like the crawl through a millennia. Rey waits like she has always waited—for a phone call, a text message, anything that will tell her where Leia has gone off to. She’s aware of the regulations for reporting someone missing—must be at least 24 hours and they expect some idea as to why she left. But Rey has no idea. She's also aware that the police will likely tell her that Leia left of her own free will being an adult and all. 

Yeah, bullshit. 

In the span of an hour, with just enough time to drive herself crazy, she tears the entire office apart, finding more useless trash than anything else. The desktop computer chimes, the sound she set up to announce a new email, but her mind doesn't think about it immediately. 

When she walks by ten minutes later, her eyes catch on that small little envelope on the right side of her taskbar, and she opens Outlook to a message from Leia’s private personal email address.

> >From: Leia Organa <mamaso@hotmail.com >  
>To: Rey Niima <reyniima@alderaancares.org>  
>Subject: i'm o k
> 
> hi rey pleaz dont worry about m e whyd dont yo u take the rest of the week of with full pay
> 
> ill talk to you next week
> 
> Sent from my iPhone

  
The screen goes to sleep before she moves again.

If whoever sent this is trying to keep her mind off of her boss, it would've been smarter to not send it at all. 

Leia is many things, but she is extremely particular, meticulous, and would rather die painfully than send a message that laden with typographical errors. Someone is imitating her boss, and it lights a fire inside her to think about what must've happened when she was away. 

There are still three hours left to her day, and she will not be following the directions given to her in this email. But she also knows no one will believe or listen to her if she reports Leia missing. 

Except one person, maybe. 

But it's a long shot. 

Still. 

She will hate herself if she doesn't do every single thing she possibly can. Leia would do the same for her, Leia has done the same for her on so many occasions. Mind made up, she picks up her own cell phone and dials a number that she's called many times before. 

The robotic message is what greets her when Ben Solo doesn't pick up, yet again. She mentally talks herself down in the space of seconds. There is a purpose to this call, just like every other, but why must he be such an ass?

“Hello, Ben Solo. It's Rey Niima. Why don't you ever pick up your phone, you—” she growls with frustration, but tries to start over. “I’m calling you because I can't find your mother and I don't know what to do, to be fully honest with you. I am so worried about her, but I know no one will believe a thing I say. So—_please_ call me back. I need your help, Ben Solo. It's quite possible that you're our only hope.”

!

She is sitting in her studio apartment, eating leftover chinese food for the third day in a row on her futon couch/bed combination, when her phone rings. 

At first she thinks it must be Finn, calling to tell her that he made it home or he's spending another night in town and will she please have dinner with him tomorrow, but then her mind moves at the pace of a drifting iceberg when she sees the phone number listed on the screen. 

“Hello?” 

“Rey? It's Ben.” Her breath leaves her body in a rush, a torrent of conflicting feelings suddenly overtake her.

_Breathe, girl. _

“Thanks for calling me back. I take it you listened to my message?” His grunt is the only note of affirmation she receives, so she trudges on. “I have a really bad feeling about all of this, and I’m at a loss about what to do.” 

Ideas aren't really sprouting from either of them, so she agrees to reach back out tomorrow if there are no changes. 

Sleep doesn't come to her that night, her mind refusing to drift away from the terrible thoughts that plague her, and they are still around when she closes her eyes. If she had to ask anyone for help, it was always Leia. 

Leia would know exactly what to do in this situation. It is too bad she can't find herself. 

Tossing and turning is such unproductive work that after two hours spent staring at the lights drifting over the ceiling, Rey gets up and starts doing internet searches on her phone and takes out a legal pad she might have “borrowed” from the office. 

Leia Organa is a widely recognized figure so it stands to reason that many people would remember seeing her, whether or not she was behaving in any kind of odd manner. 

Rey knows every place around town that her boss frequents because she often has to go out to hither and yon when her fancy strikes. The only store that keeps that one brand of Merlot in stock is the store two miles over, there is the pasta salad from Hutt’s, her favorite Friday fish fry from The Cantina, the dry cleaners on the other side of town always does a better job on the set in stains, the best donuts are from the Italian bakery just south of the office, pizza can only be purchased from the place on 5th that has the perfect brick oven. 

Each and every single thing she knows about Leia is written down on the pad, creating a jumping off point for tomorrow. Or maybe it will be something they laugh at in the morning when Leia walks in the door and tells Rey the very funny story about twisting her ankle and hitting her head off the corner of her desk, causing a minor concussion that made her loopier than she’d want anyone to see. 

Still… 

A guiding voice in the back of her mind repeats that something is wrong. 

Just as her eyes start to droop closed she is struck by a thought: R. Tou! Why didn't she think about him earlier? 

The clock on her microwave, stacked on the counter in the small kitchenette in the corner, reads that it is 2:31 AM, much too late to call a greying old man and ask him if his employer came home yesterday. 

That goes down on the legal pad too. 

She has only been to the house in Naboo once, right on the shores of Lake Varykino, and she will never forget the moment that she realized Leia doesn't actually need to work; she does it, day in and day out—probably on the weekend too, because she cares about people. 

With all the things she does have, what she is lacking is a son who calls her back, or makes an effort all on his own. 

Anger brews inside her once again. She is determined to get to the bottom of this if only to give Leia some closure. 

On a normal morning, Rey rises at about 5:45 in the morning, goes for a light jog for a few miles, and makes it into the office by at least 7:45 AM. Today, even without a wink a sleep, she walks into the stagnant office at 7:15 AM. 

Everything is as she left it. 

Her body moves on autopilot, hot tea in hand, as she moves around the space, trying to take everything in with a keener eye than she might have had yesterday. Some sort of energy courses through her, allowing her muscles to move efficiently when she takes a stroll into Leia’s office and sits down in the plush chair stationed behind the beautifully ornate wooden desk. There is little else on top of the desk aside from the phone, computer, and a padfolio that she usually takes with her when she leaves for the night. 

The leather is worn from years of use, but the Organa family crest is still visible in its rich, chipped gold flourishes. Mentally, she struggles for the resolution to open it for one minute then two, her own need for privacy putting pressure on her more than anything else. 

Pain begins to blossom behind her eye as she stares at the leather that has clearly been well taken care of, trying to talk herself into taking some sort of action. If Leia walks through the door in five minutes, maybe they’ll laugh about this as she’s written up for the first time, but waiting around for another five minutes feels worse than the continued throbbing in her head. 

Her hands start to move as if they belong to someone else, to another entity entirely, and in the blink of an eye, it is open. 

The first item she notices is a weekly planner shoved into one of the interior pockets, and now that she's crossed one threshold, there is no more hesitation left. A binder clip keeps the weeks already passed secured away while Rey skims the private calendar from this current week. 

She recognizes certain notes that pertain directly to meetings she had throughout the previous days, but there is a star and a heart drawn next to yesterday’s date. Unlocking the clip, Rey tries to find more instances of these two characters, but she's gone back to March without seeing another. But she does recognize a different pattern, a single word that appears at least once a week, sometimes more: Snoke. 

The phone at her desk rings, roughly shaking her out of her own mind, and her wristwatch somehow states that it's 8:45. 

On a normal day, Leia would be walking through the door in fifteen minutes, smiling up a storm as she finishes up her podcast and tries her best to keep her coffee from staining her blouse with the jumble of activity from opening the door, dropping her keys into her bag, and pulling her airpods from her ears. 

Silences envelopes her again as she sits and waits, staring off down the hall as if a secret is held there, just beyond her field of vision. 

This is really happening. It is not just her imagination—Leia is missing. 

The next step is staring her directly in the face, she needs to call Ben, but he is still an unknown entity. She’s heard him described as volatile, unpredictable, possibly even violent under the right conditions. She also knows that he works for that reptile, Snoke. 

Her mind is essentially bursting with all the information she's sorting through, every avenue they might need to venture down, and a few prayers that she sends up to the heavens in the hope that they’ll find Leia safe and sound. 

The clock strikes 9:00 when she takes her seat back at her own desk after locking the door to make sure there will be no interruptions. She dials his phone number easily, and is surprised when he picks up on the first ring. 

“Rey.” No hello, no other greeting, simply her name and she's momentarily spellbound by how good it sounds in his mouth. If Leia wasn’t missing—but she is, so there is no reason to start down that road. 

“Hi, Ben. I'm sorry to report that I am not calling with good news.” 

He grunts in response as she gives him a rather generic version of events. There are a few things they might try, but right now it all feels so useless while she's by herself. 

“I have a request,” she remarks conspiratorially. 

“What is it?” 

Her teeth dig in to her bottom lip, making her thankful that she was too tired to put any makeup on this morning. At least she dressed as she normally would. “Can you come help me? I don't know anyone else who might be able to point me in the right direction.”

His sharp intake of breath is very apparent, “I don't know if I’m the best person…” 

“Please? You may not think so, but your mother would want you to be involved. I know it.” 

Silence is his only response, and that is how she knows she has won. 

!

By the time Ben knocks at 9:45, Rey is set up at the conference table in the only other room they have to offer. It is only accessible through a locked door in the executive office, but she has keys to everything. Inside is an entire wall covered in one long dry erase board that hadn't been cleared after the last meeting Leia had with The Naboo Women’s Society. The green ink fades into the white abyss of the board with each stroke of the eraser in her hand until a knock on the glazed glass of the entry door announces a new arrival. 

“Who is it?” Somehow she's more nervous and jumpy than she can reasonably explain away. It’s unlikely that an individual coming to kidnap her would knock, but it's not unheard of. 

“Rey, it's me—Ben.” The shape of his figure is just evident enough through the opaque glass, tall and broad and simply the definition of the word large. Rarely does she feel small as a woman who stands at 5’7” without the heels she wears on most work days, but the feeling strikes her true as he walks in through the door once she's unlocked it. 

The image of him in her mind was always dark, and that's not completely wrong with his nearly black hair and warm, comforting brown eyes, but there's so much light in him too. His skin is pale and dotted with light brown beauty marks over his face and neck. Overall, he's much more attractive than a man who disappoints his mother should be. It's not fair, but she has come to find that many things in life follow that same rule. 

“He—hi.” She closes the door behind him and swiftly slips the lock back into place. Why is she stumbling over her words? This is so unlike her, Rey doesn't get tongue tied even when faced with some lowdown, dirty individuals. 

Has she lost all her senses over a pair of pretty eyes? 

No, it's clearly that small detail on top of everything else that threatens to overwhelm her.

Movement near her face is enough to bring her back to reality to see a large steaming cup of coffee being held up before her in supplication. 

“I thought you could use some caffeinating. If you spend a lot of time around Leia—” she can see his adam’s apple bob as he swallows heavily, “—I mean my mom, then you basically run on the stuff. Am I right?”

Her cheeks heat up wholly against her own will as her eyes skate around, refusing to catch his before she takes the cup and nods her appreciation, too unsure of how her throat will function with pushing actual sounds out of her vocal cords. All she can grant him is a smile, large enough that she can feel her eyes crinkle at the edges, and she motions him on after a tick of silence beats at their heels. 

Ben follows her back to the conference room, and she turns around in time to see him barely make it through the doorway. How is it possible that such a small woman gave birth to such a massive man? 

“I figured it might be a good idea to start off with a timeline, yeah?” Taking up the green marker, Rey draws a line horizontally through the board until about halfway down the wall. At the end is the point that she returned back to the office from lunch. 

She starts writing, slightly bent over at the waist and surely giving him quite a view of her ass wherever he's sitting, and has to give him credit because his eyes are up around her eye line, not down, when she turns back around to look at him. 

“2:30 is when I returned to an empty office after taking her clothes to the dry cleaner and grabbing lunch with a friend.” He nods along, hands resting on his large thighs when not holding his coffee cup. “You called around 3:15, but I left around 1:00. She had a phone call with your boss around 12:30, so I believe he must be involved.” 

The reaction is immediate and his body moves as if she rushed over and smacked him across the face—it's nearly whiplash, the speed at which he shakes his head. “Impossible,” he tries to refute her claim. 

“How so? Please, do explain how your leech of a boss wouldn't dare to touch a hair on Leia’s head.” Her biting tone returns and she's helpless to stamp it down and back into its place. While he may be helping, she doesn't forget that it's against his own will. 

If he's shocked by the abrupt change, he does well to hide it from his face. “I can explain, just—” As if on cue, the loud music from his ringtone goes off and he quickly stands, giving her the “1 minute” sign by holding up his finger when he sees the caller’s name or number, before walking down the hall for privacy. 

The whiteboard takes her attention for a few minutes, but he's still gone by the time she's wrapped up the complete timeline. It would be a lie to say she's not curious about his phone call, and she's able to hear some words and phrases make their way down the hall. 

Ever so slowly, she tiptoes her way to the corner and peeks around it, watching him pace the area around her desk while his hand constantly runs through his hair and keeps it away from his face. The distance is too great for her to hear what's being said, but he's so animated that she can only imagine it is not a good conversation. 

There are no more corners or hidden alcoves for her to dive into, so with a finger held up high to going unnoticed, she leisurely walks to her desk to check her email, if asked. 

It's not clear if he notices her there or not, his conversation doesn't end, and he actually gets more animated than he had been before. She appreciates his voice in more ways than she can describe and hearing him yell at whoever is on the other end of that call is doing far too much for her overactive imagination and previously subpar libido. 

_Focus._

The call ends and he stands there, trying to catch his breath and simply getting a look around the office before his eyes fall on her. 

“I’m sorry you had to hear that,” he sounds genuine while he looks down at his feet. His brown eyes are shining when he catches her eye again. 

“Everything alright?” She can't pretend like she didn't hear everything he said. There's a reason she got a C- in Intro to Theatre. 

His feet kick out at some small, invisible thing on the floor. “That was my colleague on behalf of my boss. Something's up.” 

Pulled to her feet as if by a puppeteer’s strings, Rey can't help clapping her hands together in surprise. He hasn't said anything to that effect, but she's sure he's willing to help out now, and he may be one of the few people who will take her seriously about this. 

“Come on,” she says as she wraps her hand around his enormous bicep, “we have a lot to discuss.”


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is the last chapter before the epilogue. I hope to have that up soon!
> 
> Thank you to [tomorrowthestars](https://archiveofourown.org/users/tomorrowthestars/pseuds/tomorrowthestars) for the beta read!

If she expects Ben to spill everything he knows once they again cross the threshold of the conference room, she is sorely mistaken. Where he was an unwilling participant before, now he is essentially a magic 8 ball that provides a direct answer with every three shakes, a steel trap buried deep inside a concrete bunker.

She huffs and takes his vacated seat for just enough time to observe him as he takes in the full scope of her rough yet somehow very thorough investigative work. 

It's not that he isn't being helpful—he definitely _is_—but it's not in the way she anticipated. She doesn't know him, that much is _very_ clear, and she mentally steps down from her soapbox to remove as much bias as she possibly can.

Ben Solo is his own person, free of her personal prejudices and struggles. He is not as one dimensional as she previously imagined. 

Say it again. One more time. 

“Why do you think this is so important?” 

Shaken from her thoughts, Rey looks up to see that he has drawn a star over the section of the timeline where the phone call between Leia and Snoke took place. 

A raised eyebrow is all she can offer him in response. 

“What is it? There's no other information here, so do you have actual facts or are you jumping to conclusions?” 

“Jumping to—WHAT?!” She feels the need to jump to her feet and beat him upside the head, but she dips into a previously undiscovered reserve of patience. “Excuse me, Ben Solo, why don't you sit your ass down and let me explain.” Standing quickly, she takes him by the shoulders and essentially forces him into the seat she just vacated. 

“I went through your mother’s personal calendar and the last two calls she had with your boss we're on the same days you contacted her. Is that a coincidence, or are you in cahoots with that reprehensible man?” Her breath is coming faster and faster as she leans over him, pressing one of her fingers deep into what she imagines is a perfectly chiseled chest. 

Ben’s eyes slowly work their way up to her face. The confused look he gives her only frustrates her more. “You don't know what you're talking about.” It should sound rude, but she can tell his mind is considering so many things at hyper speed; she can see it in his eyes. 

Scrambling for the contents of the padfolio she’d laid out on the table, Rey takes the planner and flips through the pages while she stands in front of him. 

“See? A week ago, the day you sent her a text message is the same day she had a phone call with Snoke, ruined a beautiful cream colored designer shirt that couldn't be saved from the coffee stain. Remember what I told you about yesterday? I didn't know you contacted her again—good job, it's about time, by the way—but she definitely talked to him, and I had to make another trip to the dry cleaners. Maybe Leia should only wear darks, let me write that down…” 

Back in her personal assistant persona, she turns through pages to get to today and scribbles down that thought, somewhat lost in it all as she tries to sit down on the chair behind her—the chair Ben’s currently sitting in. An instant reaction jolts through her body when she touches him. “Oh! Oh no, I’m so sorry! I just—wasn't thinking at all. I meant to sit, and… yeah.”

A blush rises on his cheeks, more slightly pink than red, but it's clear when she considers his usual pale face. “It’s okay, don't worry about it.” Most of his attention is focused down on his phone, his fingers running up and down the screen before he looks up at her with confusion etched on his face. 

“I didn't text her,” he reports. 

“What? Text who?” 

“My mom. I didn't text her on either of those days.” He holds the screen up for her to see, the text conversation just a bunch of unanswered responses from Leia over the past few months. 

That hits her like a bull charging for blood, and she has to feel her way into the chair next to him before she faints or her legs give out. 

She starts to speak, completely untethered to what's working its way out, “Who would do that? And why? I wish she'd shown me the text she received yesterday.” 

“Do you remember what the first one said?” 

She gives him the gist of it and offers to show him the email someone acting as Leia sent her, quickly moving their meeting out front to her desk. He has a similar response to her own. “She didn't write this, there's no way.” 

The smile comes unbidden. “My thoughts exactly.” 

He’s hovering over her, a large form that can completely block out the sun if necessary, and she allows herself the chance to take him in, whole and piecemeal, for just a moment. Well worn dark jeans, an expensive looking sweater that appears to be painted on over muscles that have her mouth watering, and finally, a face that should be illegal. It certainly won't be leaving her mind any time soon. 

“Can you—” He resumes his normal height and runs his palms over his thighs, “—do you have access to her computer?” 

It hadn’t occurred to her before, a need to dive even deeper than she already has. All things in good time. 

The kitten heels smack against his shoes when she spins her chair around. “I do, but there's something I want to do first. Did you drive?” 

!

Of course he has a beautiful car. Of course. She can't stop herself from running her fingertips over the dashboard, the leather of the center console, each and every inch within her reach is touched, handled, enjoyed. 

A laugh comes from the driver’s seat. 

“What?” She doesn't stop, not exactly, but takes the time to focus on him and the smile he grants her. 

“You seem to appreciate this car even more than I do.” 

She shrugs in response. “Once a mechanic, always a mechanic. It runs in my blood.” 

“My dad was a mechanic.” 

Her eyes shoot up, locking onto him. “Really? Your mother, she never—I don't know anything about him.” 

The constant tick-tock of the turn signal is the only reprieve from the silence before they pull into the large circular drive that surrounds the house on Lake Varykino. “Maybe she will when we get her back.” 

It's the use of that one word—_we_—that gets her. She can't recall a time before when she was included as part of that one word, except for when it involved food. This is special in its own way, new and bright, and she's thankful there is no need for her to speak. 

The massive oak door opens before they're fully upon the doorstep, trusted butler R. Tou appearing very surprised to see Ben. 

“Master Ben! What a surprise. I’m afraid your mother isn't in at the moment.” Rey tries her best not to laugh at how quickly the tall, greying man is talking. 

All Ben does is shake his head and offer him a small wave, effectively tapping her in. “She's not here? When did you last hear from her?” 

They are both ushered inside where the house looks much like it usually does, she expects, though her single visit hasn't given her much familiarity here. R. Tou removes a small leather notebook from his pants pocket, flipping through pages and pages until he finds what he needs. “I received a call from you last night, Master Ben, letting me know that your mother would be spending a few nights with you.” 

Rey might laugh at the shocked look on Ben’s face if it didn't add another star to a constellation she looks at with so much worry and dread. 

“I did not,” is all Ben can respond with. 

R. Tou’s entire body moves as if a lightning strike has run through him. “It has been quite some time since we’ve spoken, sir, but I was very sure that it was you.” 

!

Ben rushes her into the car after R. Tou tries to offer them food or drink, feeling the need to serve someone while Leia is away. Whatever is working away in his brain, he's not willing to share just yet. 

“What's going on, Ben? Where are we going?” She watches his turn right onto the street, heading in the opposite direction from the office. Still, he stays silent. 

Rey watches the scenery out of the passenger side window, understanding without the need for clarification that they are putting more and more distance between their position and the city center. 

“There are too many coincidences for me to fully believe,” he finally says, more to the steering wheel than to her. 

She is nodding along to what has been her thought from the beginning. “I agree.” 

The car rolls to a slow stop at a red light, no other cars or headlights coming from anywhere around them. “I need you to trust me, Rey.” 

“I do, but are you going to tell me where we’re going?” 

His head shakes and they're moving again. “Saying it out loud lessens the surprise, and—if I’m right—we need all the surprise we can get.” 

! 

From what she's heard of First Order Corporations, she expected… well, more. She thought it would be more like some massive grouping of structures that pumps out hazardous chemicals directly into the air and the river and requires a blood sample and a birth certificate for entry. Instead, Ben simply shows his ID badge to a guard at an open checkpoint and then they're waved in. It is that easy. 

“This is where you work? This is the den of iniquity where the devil spawns more hell hounds?” She says it as a joke, but Ben barely registers the words or grants her any kind of response.

The parking lots that surround the three-building complex are dotted with small clusters of three or four cars here and there, leaving most of the spaces open to the chill that is rapidly descending with the night. Ben pulls in to park at a spot right in front of the sidewalk, next to a large, flat building that she assumes to be a warehouse of some sort, though she honestly has no idea what this company actually produces or what Ben does, for that matter. 

Biting down on a hangnail still determined to stick around, Rey turns around in her seat to see if any other humans are about. “Care to give me a tour?” He actually huffs out a laugh, chipping away at the tension still growing around them. “Actually, I really just want to see your offices and any good vending machines in the area.” 

“I will be more than happy to show you the shoebox I work in once we find my mother,” he concedes. His anxiety is on display, with huge neons signs pointing to it, as he runs his hand through his hair a few times while he leans back against his seat. “Alright, let’s go.” 

When getting dressed this morning she hadn't known to expect anything, so she is slightly shivering as they quickly walk towards a set of metal doors and a scanning pad that he will need to run his ID card over, announcing to the world that they're here. 

“Cold?” He questions while watching her attempt to increase circulation in her arms by running her hands over the naked skin. 

“A little, yeah.” 

“Come here.” It’s a demand, more than anything, and though she really doesn't know him at all, Rey doesn't hesitate to scoot over the four steps that separate them and allow him to wrap his arms around her. 

For someone who doesn't accept physical intimacy easily, who has spent the majority of her life alone, there is some small lock hidden deep that he is able to open in a way unlike anyone else ever has before. She can't help her body’s natural reaction to him when she blushes either. 

“So what's the plan, Solo?” 

“The plan,” he starts to explain as he takes her left hand in his own, “is to just do this.” With a squeeze to her hand, he drops it for a moment to swipe his ID badge, slipping it back into his pocket to take her hand again while the heavy doors stutter to open and slowly part enough to allow them entrance. 

The moon and the stars are high in the sky, so she doesn't expect that they will run into anyone still working at a time like this, but it seems that he's prepared for that just as they come across a security guard doing his rounds. 

“And I told him it was meant to cook on 350, not 450, but only after all the smoke had cleared and we’d properly aired the place out.” They both laugh obnoxiously until the man passes, giving Ben a small nod of recognition before he turns down a hallway where he unlocks a door marked “security.” 

Every word they exchange after that is nothing more than a whisper spoken out the side of their mouths, Ben holding her tightly to his chest in a way that makes it very difficult for her to manage walking without accidentally stomping all over his feet. “Where are we going?” 

One right turn, two lefts, and down a long hallway that seems to span miles where adrenaline is coursing through her body, nearly matched with a large dose of anxiety, before Ben stops suddenly and drags her fully into his body with little effort. The comfort of him has her nearly dizzy for a moment, glad to be lost in the hard planes of muscle under her face as she rests against his chest, but he shatters that feeling with his next few words. 

“I’ll keep you safe, Rey. The three of us will leave here in one piece, but follow my lead. Nod if you understand me.” 

She does. 

They stand before a set of heavy metal doors labeled WAREHOUSE, and she feels a pressure on the crown of her head that may be someone’s lips lingering there, but no—not possible. There are no locks or sensors or scan pads, all that keeps them from what lays ahead is a doorknob. 

With a twist and pull, they walk in together. 

For a moment she wonders if they will walk in and find everything as it should be, with workers going about their daily business, but the silence is what surprises her the most. The room is still save for their movement and the noises their feet can muster on poured concrete floors. 

Then sounds explode out of a room to their right, shocking her enough to extract a little gasp from her as Ben squeezes her tighter and tighter before dropping his hold to simply keep her hand in his. 

“Here's where we keep the paper,” he says in a normal tone, pointing her attention to the shelves full of reams of paper and countless other products. 

Half her mind is occupied with this part they're playing, a couple of young lovers off for a stroll, while the other is pressed against the glass window of the office, desperately wanting to know what's happening inside.

_Talk louder_, her inner gossip says. _Make more noise._

“Can you teach me how to drive a forklift?” 

His laugh is loud, booming with an echo around deep walls and high ceilings. It is just enough to catch attention from whoever is inside that inner office. The door is slammed open, and a sourpuss red headed man walks out and spots them immediately. 

“Solo. What are you doing here?” Red flames on his face, nearly matching the color of his hair. 

“Can't you see that I’m showing my girlfriend around? She just finished a long week of work and we were in the neighborhood for dinner, thought I'd give her a tour.” Ben manages to seem so aloof and at ease that it boggles her mind and makes it easier for her to follow along. 

The other man throws his head back and laughs. “You, girlfriend?” Rey feels eyes searching over her, raking her full form and pausing for breaths in areas. She can feel the heat from his gaze. 

Ben must feel it too, because she is back into his chest in a minute, though she really can't complain about that. “Tigers might not be able to change their stripes, but they can grow up,” he bites back. 

Whether the other man believes it, she can't tell while she stands there and breathes him in. She's getting a little lightheaded being this close to him, and his beating heart is drumming a rhythm deep into her cheek. 

“Why don't you come in for a second?” The offer is given and she takes the end of that rope immediately, staying linked with Ben as her arm loops around his waist. 

It feels nice, all the contact, and she knows she is going to miss it once this is all resolved. She will go back to being alone yet again. 

“Stay close,” Ben says in a low tone as his arm slides around her shoulders. She can't deny that request as her nerves start to ramp up. 

Inside is a scene she considered more than once over the past few days, but she's watched far too many action and crime movies to think that it ever really happens in life. Inside Leia is lashed to a chair, looking more tired than Rey has ever seen her, but otherwise seemingly unharmed. Thank the maker for that. 

Another voice sounds off from a back corner, hidden until they've pushed in deeper and are near the middle of the room. 

“Ah, young Solo. I was wondering when you'd show up.” His voice is icy, dripping with malice and malcontent, pushing her further into Ben. “And who is this?” 

“Hello, sir. This is my girlfriend, Rey. Rey, this is my boss, Mr. Snoke.” Polite introductions require a handshake, but she knows her body will resist the very touch of this man. 

She isn't wrong. 

His touch is frigid like an iceberg drifting out in the Arctic. It's possible that he smiles at her once they are connected, but Rey only allows her eyes to linger on him for one mere moment in time, then she is back in Ben’s arms and surrounded by warmth. 

It feels great after the temperature has dropped how many degrees in a split second. 

Leia looks at them with warm, happy eyes. “Good to see you, Ben.” 

“Hi, mother.” 

Everyone is watching the exchange with bated breath. 

“I’m so glad you could join us while we continue to show your mother the best of our hospitality.” Snoke’s voice drips with lethal intent. He stalks around them all, circling the prey while he and the redhead act as predator sharks in deep, murky waters. 

“Hux, why don't you find a seat for Rey? Let's make you all the more comfortable.” 

A chair is dragged over next to Leia, identical save for a lack of ties, but she still doesn't want to sit. It is effectively showing them her soft underbelly and it will not happen if she intends to get Leia out. She feels two sets of hands on her as she is extracted from Ben’s embrace, and she chants to herself that she can do this. 

An unspoken exchange takes place as she falls into the chair and her eyes connect with Leia’s. In front of her Hux kneels down, pulling the missing ties from his pockets, but Rey kicks out her feet and catches him in the chest at the same moment Leia’s moves to kick him squarely in the head. 

He collapses onto his back like a rag doll. 

Surprise sounds like anguish as it bubbles out of Snoke’s mouth a moment before Ben’s elbow is crushed into his sternum along with a number of other quick moves that she can't even track from where she's sitting. 

She's learning that he always has something else up his sleeve. 

He is next to them in a flash, helping her remove the ties that keep Leia bound. 

“Are you alright? Did they hurt you?” Rey’s emotions are all over the place, making it impossible for her to keep all her tears in. 

“Oh, darling. I’m fine. Don't worry about me. I am so happy to see you both.” There are tears in Leia’s eyes too. She is quick to wrap both Rey and Ben in her arms, forcing the two of them to slouch down for her, “I knew you'd find me.” 

Leia refuses to let either of them retreat back to their own homes that night, requiring that they stay at the Lake Varykino house so she can be surrounded by people she loves. 

The house is full of empty guest rooms, but Leia makes no comment when Rey and Ben pick rooms right next to each other. It's all but deserted at night. No one is there to witness one door opening before its occupant steals away into the neighboring room without making a sound.


End file.
